Pokemon: Otherworldly Encounters
by Skolir
Summary: A meteor with a strange occupant sends Pokemon trainer Ben Maines on an adventure across the Hoenn Region. A bit AU. My first pokemon fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people! I'm taking a break from my other stories for a bit because I have a bad case of writer's block and a short attention span. So here is a story I've had rattling around in my head for a while. It's a bit AU, has almost nothing to do with the anime, and I'm making some up as I go along, so non canon stuff will be common. Read on and enjoy!**

Ben sighed contentedly as he gazed through his telescope at the night sky. His Lunatone, Mire, hovered next to him, also gazing skyward. Ever since Ben had found her on a trip to Meteor Falls, he had enjoyed their time as pokemon and trainer. Though Ben knew she was technically genderless, he still felt that she was feminine enough for the pronoun. He called her Mire, because naming a pokemon after its element or what it resembled was really done to death. Every single Pikachu he met was either Sparky or Shock, or what have you. Anyway, Ben loved his Meteorite Pokemon.

Ben was a pretty average looking 17-year-old. He was 6'4", but skinnier than a pole. His black hair was spiked up anime style, and his sea grey eyes had a curious penetrating quality. He was currently adorned in his favorite outfit: A dark blue t-shirt with a camo green vest over it, cargo pants, and hiking boots. He had a small, ornate telescope attached to his belt. It had been a gift from his late grandfather. He was generally quiet, so people often mistook him for being shy. Instead, he just possessed a quiet confidence in himself, and used his words sparingly. Ben had been a Trainer for ten years, but hadn't really put any effort into getting badges.

Ben lived in his log cabin deep in Petalburg woods, far away from anyone else. He had gotten himself emancipated from his parents the second he came of age. They cared more about their business than their son. Besides, they disapproved of raising pokemon, and had wanted him to get rid of Mire. So Ben jumped ship early and hit the ground running.

He had built his cabin himself, and used a small generator to provide power for the little he and Mire needed. Every so often a lost trainer wandered this way, and after the resulting mandatory pokemon battle, he sent them on the right way with a bruise or two.

Life out there was a bit lonely, but it had its perks. Far away from the pollution and blazing lights of civilization, Ben and Mire could pursue their love of stargazing. Astronomy had always fascinated Ben. It was part of the reason he was so drawn to his extraterrestrial pokemon. Out here, the entire sky was his. So that was how he saw the meteor streaking through the sky that night.

Ben had set up a lawn chair in the clearing outside of his cabin. A large, ornate telescope stood on a tripod over him. Mire hovered to his right, angled to catch the lunar rays. Ben was enjoying himself thoroughly. This was another hobby his parents had discouraged. Freedom was so refreshing.

As the hours passed pn, Ben was about ready to call it a night, when suddenly, one star seemed to get much bigger. Ben stared at it, uncomprehendingly, until it began trailing flame. A meteor was falling through the atmosphere. Ben watched admiringly. This was a rare sight.

To his surprise, the light fractured into pieces, meteor shards flying out in all direction. One shard in particular grew exponentially larger than the others, and it took Ben and Mire a second to realize that this meant it was heading their way. Ben did a quick mental trajectory and deduced that it would land nearby in the woods. He shoved his beloved telescope to the side and pulled on his trainer pack. Mire followed along excitedly as he bounded into the forest. He quickly drew another pokeball from his belt. He hurled it, and a shiny Gengar emerged. The Gengar, Alexander, gave off his trademark cackle. He butted playfully into Mire before streaking ahead, using his sinister presence to scare off any wild pokemon. A startled Hoothoot scratched at Alexander, and was given a Hyper Beam for its troubles.

A few minutes later, a resounding boom shook the forest, heralding the arrival of the meteorite. Ben and his two pokemon hurried along as wild pokemon were wrenched forcefully from sleep. A flock of Swellows took off from beside the path, startling Mire. The Psychic type blasted them with Psychic, sending them all flying.

After only a few more minutes of jogging and levitating, they arrived at a brand new crater. The center was dominated by a stone the size of Ben's cabin, the color of obsidian. It was oddly shiny too, giving off distorted reflections. Ben eagerly used his PokeNav to take a picture and scan for radiation, and upon finding none, edged closer. As he approached, several things occurred all at once.

Firstly, an orange-ish shape shot out of the top of the meteor, vanishing over the treetops within moments. Secondly, part of the smooth meteor exploded outwards, away from Ben. A strange looking blue pokemon with a large head and glowing fingers fell away. Behind it, what appeared to be an oddly shaped Jigglypuff, taller and with smaller eyes, took off running through the trees, vaguely in the direction of the orange blur. Thirdly, Alexander was struck from behind by a Shadow Ball, originating from a pissed off Umbreon looking to find the mortal foolish enough to interrupt its sleep.

Mire instantly shot over to aid her partner, causing a Rock Slide to bash into the Dark type Eeveelution. Ben descended into the crater. He didn't have any more pokemon, but he did have a 9 millimeter, which was just as good sometimes. Nothing says to criminals "keep the hell away from my cabin" better than a little bit of frontier justice.

He approached the fallen pokemon with care. Some wild pokemon really never were gratuitous, even if you help save their lives. The little guy was stirring, trying to push itself up. It whipped its head around as Ben approached. It raised its arm and attempted a weak Confusion attack. Ben shrugged it off easily. The pokemon slumped, too weak to continue. Ben pulled out his Pokedex and scanned it.

"ERROR...SUBJECT DATA NOT FOUND...TARGET CREATURE UNKNOWN"

"Well, he's definitely not of this planet, that's for sure," Ben said. Behind him dual Hyper Beams brought down the Umbreon and the two pokemon floated back over to their trainer. Ben pulled out a special pokeball. It was grey, and had painted-on cracks running down the sides. A Borrow Ball, designed primarily for pokemon nurses to move injured wild pokemon, without registering them to a trainer. It would shatter at the least bit of resistance by the occupant. Ben activated it and sent it over to the downed alien.

A brief flash of light, and the pokemon was safe inside. Alexander floated over to the meteor. "Hey, this is hollow!" he cried. A few years back, scientists working for Devon had invented a HM that let pokemon talk in the human language. For some reason, it only worked on some individuals, mostly psychic types. It hadn't worked on Mire, though Alexander translated for her. Alexander was a smart ass sometimes, but he liked Mire, especially since she had been the one to beat him up as a wild Gastly.

The shiny Gengar stuck his head in. "It looks like a big egg with seats. Maybe the mutant space chickens are behind this". Mire rolled her eyes a bit, then came over too. Ben quickly joined them. Indeed, the inside of the meteor was ovoid, like an egg, with pod shaped seats ringing the outside. All of them were empty. A dome shaped object lay in the middle, made out of some dark metal. It had a large tear in it. Ben wondered if that orange thing he had seen had anything to do with it.

Ben backed out of the meteor, or was it spaceship? He checked to see that the Borrow Ball was securely attached to his belt, then turned to Mire and Alexander. "We have to get his guy to a Pokecenter. You guys up for a late night walk?" Alex lounged back in the air and grinned. "You're asking a nocturnal pokemon if he wants to go out at night. Brilliant." Mire rolled her eyes again and mentally slapped him with Psychic. Alex reeled, then glared at her. "Watch it. If we run into another Dark type, we'll have to be at our peak strength". Mire huffed and began floating off into the forest. Alex jumped into Ben's shadow as he followed. With any luck, the mystery pokemon would be okay in just a few hours.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the Hall of Origin..._

Arceus watched the world below him. More specifically, he watched several locations, each unique, yet with the common feature of a shiny new crater. Perfect.

For generations, people had wondered about the mysterious creator pokemon. Some believed him to have created the universe. Others thought he only made the world. Others still thought that only the pokemon themselves were the creations of Arceus. Most of what they thought was dead wrong, but that was a whole different story.  
Arceus had started out with only one hundred and fifty one pokemon. That had seemed enough at the time. After a while, when the humans grew beyond a single town, and began training and raising the pocket monsters to battle and as companions, he had gotten a little restless. He then added a new set, in a region yet unexplored by the humans, so as to not arouse suspicion. He also created new powers for them to learn, and later on, gave them abilities that altered the way they fought and reacted.  
Time and again Arceus had altered the world, adding new pokemon and powers, even having Dialga rewrite history a few times to add in time appropriate species.  
The time had come yet again for the world to change.  
Arceus had designed several new creatures. He had erased their memories of their creation, loaded them into their special craft, and shipped them off. There weren't too many this time around, supplementing the few species believed to be from space. The virus being hit by a stray laser had been a freak accident that Arceus had capitalized on. Even more of an accident was when one of the new DNA pokemon had smashed the control center of his meteor ship, so the self destruct hadn't activated to cover up Arceus's hand in this. Though Arceus did like to show off every now and then, he preferred to work out of sight, out of mind. Oh well.  
Arceus checked over that one unexploded meteor ship. A human and two trained pokemon had entered the area. The human approached the Elgyem that had been sent to settle in the forest and begin to populate with the natives. The Clefairy had run off, presumably deciding that it would rather be with others of its kind.  
So far so good.  
His gaze strayed over the Petalburg woods, towards a dark figure watching the human in the crater. After a minute, the figure slipped off between the trees. He had a feeling he had just started something far larger than he had planned.**  
**

**Yay, first pokemon fic. Read, review, please no flames, constructive criticisms welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Text in [brackets] denotes the pokemon language.**

Ben passed quickly through the forest. Alexander was having fun scaring the crap out of the local pokemon. He especially loved sneaking invisibly into flocks of flying types and watching them explode outwards around him when he revealed himself. Mire usually was the one who had to cover for him when he ran into one that isn't scared so easily, like the Slaking thumping its way towards them he had pissed off with Astonish. She floated over to block its way to Ben. The Lazy Pokemon thumped its chest and bellowed. Mire responded by blasting it with Psychic. The sloth toppled over unconscious and the group moved on.  
The lights of Petalburg came into view as the woods thinned out. Ben passed by Mr. Briney's house and crossed the beach to avoid a group of Marill in the grass. After a few more minutes of walking, he arrived at the Pokemon Center. Alex thumped into the glass doors to open them as Ben passed through. He walked up to the counter as Alex went to go hit up the local Chansey for any pokemon gossip, and Mire followed to make sure he didn't get killed by doing something stupid, again.  
Nurse Joy looked up from some paperwork as the trainer approached. "Hello, you're out late Ben. Did Alex try to flirt with a Mismagius again?" Ben laughed before saying, "Nah, he's over her now. Multiple flesh wounds can do that to a guy. But seriously, this guy was hurt bad". Ben handed over the Borrow Ball. Nurse Joy opened it up and the blue pokemon tumbled out, still unconscious.  
"Oh my, I've never seen a pokemon quite like this before!"

"I doubt anyone has. It just arrived on a meteor in the woods".

"WHAT!?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Can you fix him up?"  
"...sure, but you have to tell me everything, okay?"  
"I will, but probably not tonight. It's late, Mire is giving me the evil eye, and your Chansey is hitting Alex with eggs".  
"Chansey, stop that! I'm sorry about that. She's a bit cranky lately. I'll heal this guy right up and tomorrow I expect you to tell me everything".  
"I'll be sure to". At that, Nurse Joy took the Borrow Ball, re-sealed the pokemon inside, and inserted it into the healing machine. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo! Alex managed to escape Chansey's barrage and hid in Ben's shadow, pausing only to stick his tongue out at the normal type. Mire floated over protectively. The trio turned to leave as another figure strode in. He was a head shorter than Ben, with slicked down black hair. When he looked at Ben, his eyes shifted color from the white of the Pokemon Center to the blue color of Ben's shirt. There could only be one person with eyes like that.  
"Mimic! Long time no see! I thought you were in Johto!" Ben greeted his old friend and rival. Matthew "Mimic" Dusk grinned back at him. "Hah, I came back 'cuz the Johto league is too easy. I got to the elite four before Koga managed to get a lucky poison status in on my entire team. You should've seen Smear at work. He ripped 'em all to shreds". Mimic's first pokemon was a shiny Smeargle found on his first trip to Artisan Cave. He loved it to pieces. The rest of his team was similar, pokemon with copy abilities. Due to a rare mutation in his genes, his eyes lacked pigment, and took on the color of whatever he was looking at. It was why everyone called him Mimic.  
"Yeah, well I'd love to stay and mock you for losing to a Poison Type expert, but it's past Alexander's bedtime. If I don't get him down soon, he'll sleep through tomorrow and want to play all night". "Awwww, I missed your petty mockery. Do I really have to wait all night?" "Yeah, but I'll be sure to get some in tomorrow. Heck, let's have a pokemon battle, like the good old days". "Yeah, for sure. Heheh, I think you'll like my new team. The Johto league may suck, but there are definitely some strong pokemon in that region".  
The two friends parted ways for the night, Ben to his cabin, and Mimic to his parent's house. Ben sent Alex up to his attic room to get some rest as he pulled out the rollout bed for the still unconscious alien. Mire settled into her half moon shaped hammock above Ben's bed. The psychic huffed contentedly. On the other side of the room, the alien shifted in its sleep and rolled over. Ben glanced over at it, pulled up his covers and fell instantly into sleep.

* * *

Ben woke up staring into two perfectly green eyes. He strangled the impulse to scream, hoping not to frighten it. A quick glance confirmed that the Borrow Ball on his nightstand was now just a heap of plastic shards. He looked back up as the pokemon placed its palms on either side of his head. Ben knew about Synchronization, having run into a few wild Ralts, and knew better than to try and fight it off. Even human psychics had a hard time against psychic pokemon.  
The alien seemed less focused than some of the Ralts he had seen, and he guessed that it must have next to no experience. No wonder, seeing that it just arrived on-planet. It kind of picked through his general emotions, and a couple memories. In return, Ben caught glimpses of its own thoughts, mostly confused and distorted. It seemed wary of him, and unsure of where it was. He wondered if it had sustained brain trauma in the crash.  
After a couple more minutes it let go and hopped off his bed. Ben looked over at his alarm clock and groaned inwardly. Why did it have to happen before six? The little pokemon started poking around his room, deciding that he meant no harm. It picked up a model of the S.S. Tidal and began shaking it up and down, as if expecting it to make noise or drop candy. Once it decided that this was unlikely, it tossed the model aside and tottered over to his bookshelf. Ben thought that it kind of resembled a toddler, having an attention span of about ten seconds.  
Ben took a better look at it. Its head was huge, almost taking up its entire body mass. It had a trio of black markings on its forehead, making a symmetrical Y-shape. It had a stubby tail, and paddle like hands. Its fingers, if you could call them fingers, were red, green, and yellow, barely raised bumps on its hands. Its head had identical indents on each side.  
As Ben watched, the Pokemon picked up his nigh-empty pokedex. To his surprise, the pokedex glowed blue, and the screen lit up. The pokemon sent a beam of psi energy into the device, and the pokedex responded by speaking.

"Elgyem, The Cerebral Pokemon. A psychic type, it can use its powerful mind to manipulate the mind of anything that threatens it, and can use its powers to squeeze the brain of foes. This specimen is male, its known powers are Confusion and Growl, and its projected level is five. Its abilities are Synchronize and Analytic. It has a Quirky nature, and its status is wild."

"That was...unusual. So you're Elgyem, are you?" The small pokemon looked up at him and lifted its arms. "Gee," it said. "Since you may be staying here for a while, why don't I show you around a bit?" asked Ben. "El! Gee!" He picked it up, and it clambered over to sit on his shoulder. It peered up at the sleeping form of Mire in her hammock before knocking on Ben's head to get him to move on. Ben began the brief tour around his small home. The whole building was focused around a homey living room, with the furniture arranged in a half circle around the fireplace. A seldom used TV stood in the corner, coated with a thin sheet of dust. A bar style counter separated his kitchen from the living room. His only electric appliances were a fridge and the overhead light, as he prefered to use an old fashioned wood burning stove. A wild Timburr that had somehow come over from Unova brought him wood on occasion in exchange for some of the berries growing in his garden.  
The next room was his small office. It was half filled by a wooden desk, and on that was his high tech computer. It was a modified version of the ones used at the Hoenn Weather Institute, and he used it to pursue his love of astronomy by tracking celestial bodies and events. He also kept in contact with Professor Cosmo, who shared his love of the heavens. The walls were covered with star charts and pictures of the night sky. Elgyem looked about wide eyed before drumming on Ben's head again.  
Ben pulled down the hatch to the attic. It had a thin wall dividing it in two halves, one side was his storage, the other was Alex's room. Ben and the Elgyem went through the door to a balcony that wrapped around the roof to get a good look at the sunrise. He sat Elgyem down on the railing, and it began drumming its legs impatiently. It really was just like a little kid.  
Banging sounding from behind them as Alex woke up. If Elgyem was like a little kid, then Alex was like a teenager. His messy room sure was an indicator of that. The black Gengar floated through his door, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He noticed them and floated over. "Hey, when's breakfast?" Of course, his stomach came before any formalities. "As soon as you make it," Ben replied. Alex stuck out his tongue and drifted through the floor. "All right Elgyem, if you're quite ready, let's go eat". "Elgy!"  
The trainer and his pokemon convened in the kitchen. Mire levitated over the stove as she used her telekinetic powers to flip some bacon. Alex was munching on a generic pop-tart, his favorite. Ben placed Elgyem at the table and walked outside to his garden. A bunch of berry trees crowded together, alongside some carrots and potatoes. Ben shooed a couple of Taillows away then picked a few of each type, not what the Elgyem would like. He returned with the bounty to see Mire looming over the newcomer. A telltale ripple in the air revealed psychic powers at work, and Ben guessed that they were having a conversation.  
Alex was wolfing down a mound of bacon that Mire must have set down, and Ben had to make grab for some before they were gone. He piled some berries onto a plate and pushed it in front of the Elgyem. It picked up a Pecha berry and began chewing on it thoughtfully. After roughly 30 seconds, it spewed it out, and then proceeded to pick up and Orran. "He's quirky alright," Ban said. "No shit, Sherlock," said Alex, who had been on the receiving end of the spray. Mire glared and him and rebuked him in her language. Ben didn't catch a word of it, but Alex rolled his eyes and flew outside to annoy the wild pokemon.  
After a bit more trial and error, they finally came up with a list of foods that the Elgyem would eat. It was depressingly short. He was decidedly picky.  
"You do realize you can't survive solely off of Pamtre Berries and bacon right?", Ben asked the little guy as it scarfed down its meal. The blue alien looked up, shrugged, and kept eating. "After breakfast we're gonna go meet my friend Mimic. I haven't seen him in months. Can you battle, buddy?" The Elgyem nodded heartily and spilled some orange juice down its chin. Mire hovered over him like a mother hen and wiped his chin with a napkin telekinetically. She obviously was fond of him.  
The four set out through the woods sometime later. They skirted larger groups of pokemon, and ignored the rest. Petalburg came in sight as the sun reached its zenith. Ben made his way over to Mimic's dad's house as Mire and Alex showed the Elgyem around the small town.  
[And this is the pokemon center. You probably don't remember it much, but you were here last night] Mire explained. Elgyem nodded appreciatively. [What do they do here?] he asked. [Here, pokemon trainers can heal their pokemon teams and rent rooms for the night. Also, trainers can use the computer inside to transfer pokemon over long distances] Mire replied. "You sound like an infomercial," Alex quipped. Mire didn't bother to respond to this and guided Elgyem along to the pokemart. [This is where trainers can buy supplies such as potions or pokeballs. Some also sell pokemon food and stat boosting devices] Elgyem looked thoughtful for a minute then asked [What's a pokemon trainer?]  
[A pokemon trainer is a human that gathers teams of pokemon and trains them to fight. There are several leagues with various gyms that challenge trainers and their pokemon to their utmost, and each region has a group of five elite trainers, the elite four and the champion as a final test of their abilities]  
[Why do they raise us to fight like that? Are they too weak to do it themselves?]  
[Not at all. Pokemon are always natural fighters, competing regularly in the wild. Trainers help pokemon in two ways: by acting as a population control in limited natural habitats, and pokemon bonded with a trainer become more powerful than those in the wild. This happens because the pokeballs they capture us with help us build up and store power more quickly in what the humans call "Effort Values" than fighting on our own. It's a healthy, competitive sport, and fun]  
"Way to be a brochure there Moony".  
[Shut up Alex]  
[Is Mister Ben a trainer?]  
[Yes, but he never really attempted to do anything with it. After he met me in Meteor Falls, and Alex on a field trip to Kanto, he was more interested in raising us and his stargazing after he moved out of his parents' house than he was with going on a pokemon journey]  
[Ohhh. So the friend of his we are meeting is a real trainer doing that journey stuff?]  
[Exactly!]  
[And we're going to battle his pokemon?]  
[Yes. He's been a long way around the world, so his team is pretty strong. His first Smeargle is a good friend of mine. I was there when he was captured]  
[Are we gonna win?]  
"Yes, as long as I'm there to save the day"  
[Really?]  
[That's a maybe, dear. Like I said, they have some good experience, and he may have caught some we don't know about]  
Unbeknownst to the trio, a figure half hidden by the pokemart watched the blue alien's every move and grasped an Ultra Ball in his hands. Over the figure's shoulder hovered a Murkrow, cawing faintly to itself. The Dark type was eager, restraining itself as it sensed its owner's longing. Two Psychics and a Ghost type. It would tear them to pieces.  
The figure placed a gloved hand on the Murkrow's chest. He had to be patient. His boss had told him of the meteor crash, and that the satellites had detected life forms. He had to catch this pokemon, but he recognized two high levels guarding it. And despite his Murkrow having a type superiority, you never knew what powers strong pokemon had until they blasted yours into dust. If even one had Miracle Eye he was hosed. He was lucky they were too engrossed in their conversation. Otherwise the Lunatone would have detected him already. He just had to wait for the opportune moment...  
Ben and Mimic walked side by side down the street to where Mire and Alex waited with the alien. Ben said to his new acquaintance, "We need to get you a pokeball for the fight. Come on!" and led the way into the pokemart. The hidden miscreant cursed. Now he had to do this the old fashioned way: steal it physically.  
In the store, Mimic refilled his supply of potions as Ben and Elgyem browsed the pokeballs. One in particular, a Moon Ball, seemed to be the alien's favorite. Ben payed for it and activated it on his new fighter. The ball shook a couple times then pinged! signifying a successful capture. His pokedex chimed, prompting him for a nickname. He opened up the ball and asked Elgyem if it wanted a new name. It looked thoughtful, then nodded enthusiastically. "How about...Isaac?" Elgyem-now-Isaac thought a bit and nodded again. "Elgy! Gy-em!" "Alright, hang on a sec..." He punched the new name into the Pokedex and deposited it into his pocket. Mimic sidled over and asked, "Are you done stalling yet? Let's get this battle started!"  
The friends walked outside and over to one of the ponds bordering the town. Alex started making faces at a Corphish until it sprayed water into him. Mimic laughed. "Same old Alex. Alright, come on out Metoo!"  
A pokeball tossed into the air revealed a Bonsly, a rare pokemon indeed. It hopped about happily, until it spotted the other pokemon. It squared off, in an undoubtedly adorable fighting stance. "Wow, a Bonsly. I didn't know those were in Johto." "They aren't. A couple old people working at the daycare gave it to me. The owner of the Sudowoodo that had it left it behind. They didn't want extra baggage. So I took her in and she whooped ass against Falkner." "Nice." "I know, right?" "Alright, Isaac, let's see what you can do!"  
Isaac tottered onto the field, sizing up its foe. It looked like a plant, but a quick look into its mind revealed that it was a rock. Not that it made much of a difference, to a Psychic. To his surprise, before he could attack, the little tree sat down and started bawling. Isaac, feeling awkward, went over to comfort it. To his surprise, it swung out a leg in a Low Kick as soon as he was in range. Getting angry, he blasted it with Confusion. The tree stumbled a bit, but to Isaac's surprise, used a Confusion attack in response. Isaac reeled from the unexpected assault. It was a psychic too!?  
"I didn't know Bonsly can use Confusion." "They can't. She just used Copycat. Mimic Pokemon, remember?" "Ahhhh."  
Isaac overheard this and was relieved. If Metoo was a Psychic too, Isaac wouldn't have stood a chance. He unleashed another Confusion as Bonsly used a Rock Throw. The Psi attack knocked the rock out of the air and then knocked the pseudo tree off its feet. It tried to Copycat again, but Isaac growled, startling it. He followed up with another Confusion, sending Metoo staggering. Metoo began bawling again, but Isaac wasn't buying it. One last Confusion sent the Bonsly to the ground unconscious.  
Isaac cheered himself and his new teammates congratulated him. His first fight and he beat a veteran? This pokemon battling stuff was easier than he thought.  
"Alright, let's step things up a bit. Come on Minime!" Mimic called forth a blobby looking pokemon, purple with a dopey face. "A Ditto huh? I can deal with this. Alex, you're up!" Alex hovered over the arena as Minime Transformed into a Gengar. "This oughta be short. Alex, Shadow Ball!"  
The super effective move slammed into the Ditto, who was still testing out his new body. It flew backwards a ways before righting itself and launching a Shadow Ball of its own. Alex easily dodged, cackling the whole time. "Is that all you got, copycat? Watch this."  
His eyes glowed and a barely perceptible psychic pulse arced out of his head. Almost instantly the Ditto fell asleep. Alex chuckled and began devouring his slumbering foe's dream.

"You taught him Hypnosis and Dream Eater? That's cheap dude". "Hey, you're the one who taught Mind Reader and Guillotine to your Smeargle. Now THAT is cheap." "...Point taken."

After Alex finished replenishing his energy, the Ditto woke up, angry at being bested so easily. It fired off a volley of Shadow Balls, and was further enraged when Alex danced around them like nothing. "Hey, you're almost as fast as a Slowpoke, Loser! Hehehehehe!"

Ben called from the sidelines, "Don't be an ass, just beat him". Alex saluted mockingly, then used Thunderbolt, followed by Hex. The Ditto was finished without landing a hit.

"Hey, he used more than four moves! You know League Rules state that in trainer battles pokemon can use a selection of up to four moves."

"But this isn't a League battle, and now you're just being a sore loser. Besides, it would have turned into Shadow Ball dodgeball in a minute."

"Alright, but next time we'll do it by official rules."

"Okay by me."

"Let's do this! Smear, show him what you got!"

"Mire, your turn."

A brief burst of red light revealed Mimic's starter, his shiny Smeargle. It was actually a little taller than Mimic, standing very tall for his species at 5'6", and its red-tipped tail swung out over a meter long. Smear waved in a friendly way towards Mire before taking on a battle stance. Before Mimic had left on his journey some years ago, the two had sparred frequently.

The battle began with Smear using Mind Reader, followed rapidly by High Jump Kick. It struck Mire head on, knocking her backs a bit, but she rapidly countered with Hyper Beam. The two traded fierce blows back and forth, but not going berserk like Minime.

When no clear winner presented itself after almost ten minutes of battling, Mimic called out, "Use Guillotine!" Smear nodded, then used Mind Reader again. A burst of energy shot from the tip of his tail, shaped like a Pinsir's horns. They sliced into Mire, rendering her unconscious instantly.

"Now THAT was low. Well, we won two out of three, so I'm good with that. Let's go get healed up and grab a snack." He recalled Mire and was about to walk away when a figure in black burst out of the space between two buildings and made a grab for Isaac. Ben cried out and Alex hurled a Shadow Ball, only for a Murkrow to intercept it in midair. The Dark bird didn't even flinch. It unleashed Night Shade at Alex, sending him flying into Smear. Mimic pulled out another pokeball. "Let's do this Hothead!" Another Smeargle appeared, this one with an ordinary green tail and slightly under Mimic's height. It had a flame flickering at the end of its tail, almost like a Charizard. "Use Fire Blast!" "Smear! Smear!" The flame grew much larger as the Smeargle released the pent up pyrokinetic energy in a five pointed blast. It was therefore a bit disappointing when the Murkrow dodged it lazily with a midair loop.

Ben had taken off running after the thief, who had Isaac under one arm. Isaac was struggling feebly, still weak after his fight. The thief glanced back as his Murkrow squawked loudly as an Ice Beam from yet a third Smeargle hit it square on. Now undefended, he recalled the bird then put on another burst of speed towards his hidden vehicle.

His escape was cut short as Ben tackled him from behind. The three fell down in a tangle of limbs, and Ben hammered his fist into the thief's jaw. The man grimaced and writhed away, scrambling to get to his feet. He didn't get the chance, as Smear and Alex tackled him. The other two Smeargles staggered over, nursing minor injuries from fighting the Murkrow. The newest one also had a green tipped tail, but a pink paw print mark on its back. It was obviously female.

"Now, hand over my pokemon, and tell us who the hell you are," demanded Ben.

The man roughly shoved over the terrified Isaac, but sneered at the question. "And why would I tell you who I am?"

Mimic stepped in and said, "Because my buddy Smear here can use Guillotine on your face. At point blank range."

The man tried to remain stoic, but they both saw him swallow hard. "Fine, this job isn't worth my life anyways. All I know is that some rich guy hired me and some other people to investigate meteor strikes all across the region. He has access to some kind of super radar or something that detected life forms. He wanted us to check it out, and said he would pay double if we caught anything. I need the money and I figured you wouldn't have gotten too attached to chrome dome over there, so I took a shot".

"Who's the rich guy you're working for?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that he has a lot of money, and he hired some really big names in the pokemon hunting industry. Hell, you're lucky it was just me here. If it had been some of the others, they would have leveled the town to get at that thing."

"Damn," Mimic swore. If there was anything he hated more than losing, it was rich people acting all high and mighty.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I just really needed the money. My other pokemon, Houndoom, got really sick and I can't afford his bills right now. Please just let me go on my way so I can still get something out of this."

Ben thought a moment before nodding. The two pokemon holding him let go and he staggered off to his truck. The trainers watched as he drove away towards Rustboro.

"Why'd you let him go?" Mimic demanded. Alex answered him, "Because I was reading his mind while you were talking, and he was telling the truth. I told Ben telepathically."

Mimic still looked a little put out, but nodded his head. "Now, didn't someone mention snacks before?"

* * *

The pokemon hunter stood in a dimly lit room in the secluded mansion. His Murkrow hovered by him, occasionally tossing a nervous glance at the twin Ariados blocking the door. The hunter faced a shadow shrouded figure staring at a bank of computer monitors. It was impossible to tell how the boss had taken the news.  
The boss suddenly turned around to face the hunter, face still obscured in the gloom. The Spinarak standing on his shoulder leered at the two of them. "So you mean to tell me that you had it in your hands, and you gave it back? I thought I was hiring the best. It appears that I was mistaken."  
"It wasn't my fault! They had too many high levels, and my Houndoom got sick after fighting those Weezings! All I had was Darkly here."  
"I ask for answers and you give me excuses. I think that perhaps your services are no longer required. I am going to have to terminate your contract."  
"What about my money? I did what you asked! Hell, Houndoom got sick because you were after that shiny Weezing. You owe me!"  
"You still expect money after this debacle? How...naive. Spinarak?" This last remark was addressed to the green spider on his shoulder. It perked up eagerly.  
The figure motioned to the hunter and said, "Kill."  
The spider launched itself at the man, firing off a poison sting at the Murkrow in midair. The bird screeched and fell as its master was struck head on by the bug. Murkrow struggled against the effects of the poison as he lunged at the bug slashing open his master's face, only to be struck from behind by an X-Scissor from one of the Ariados. The bird flailed as it bled freely, until another X-Scissor finished it. By now the hunter's head was little more than ground beef, and the Spinarak was greedily sucking in the juices. The Ariados scuttled over to gorge themselves on the fallen man.  
After the green spider was filled, he jumped back onto his master's shoulder. The man stroked his precious arachnid, and turned back to where a still image of the alien the hunter had let slip between his fingers was displayed on the screen. "There may just be a way to salvage this," he muttered. He pressed a button on his console, and spoke into a microphone. "Maxwell? Get me Hunter J. I think perhaps that we can use her services again." "Right away sir. If I may so enquire, shall you be meeting her in person?" "Yes. Prepare the jet. I will see her in two hours. And make sure that she knows we know all about her. Oh, and there's a body in here. Do be so kind as to send someone to clean it up." "Yes sir. It will be done."  
The man hung up the call, then turned again to the image of the alien. He would have the pokemon, even if it meant tearing the region apart.

**Woo! Long chapter is long. Reviews are welcome, if you have ideas, I'll be glad to hear them, and I may accept an OC or two further on down the road.**


	3. Chapter 3

After getting their pokemon healed up and fed, Ben and Mimic let them all out of their balls to relax by the pond as the two buddies caught up.

Shadoo, Mimic's Zorua, and Metoo were playing tag with Isaac. What was normally a tricky game was made harder as the Tricky Fox pokemon disguised himself to hide in with the other pokemon. The three kids were having a fun time just messing around by the water. On the side, Mimic's older pokemon were sharing tales of their exploits in Johto.

"...and then Will sent out his Exeggutor. That thing was tough. So Mimic swapped me out and sent Hothead in. Hothead, well you know him. He just let loose with Fire Blast and Sketched the Exeggutor's Wood Hammer. It didn't stand a chance," said Smear. Hothead nodded emphatically, his mouth still stuffed with a hamburger. He let off a little burst of flame from his tail for emphasis.

"Watch it with that. Remember the 'incident' at the Lake of Rage? It took weeks for my fur to grow back." [Hey, it wasn't entirely my fault. That Gyarados startled me] he retorted. "You mean that Magikarp, right?" added the third Smeargle, Amor. She was idly dangling her tail in the water, baiting a Goldeen.

"A Magikarp eh? You have to watch out for those things. I once saw one Splash three feet out of the water. Lethal stuff, that is," Alex added in a mock-serious voice. Hothead blushed and muttered something along the lines of [Damn ghost] into his burger. Mire defused the situation by asking [So how did you guys finally get beaten?]

Smear sighed and said, "You know that Koga guy, the Poison type expert? We all thought he was going to be a breeze. Well, he saw how our fight against Will went, and he had his Forretress use Explosion to knock me out before I could do anything. After that, it kind of went downhill."

Amor continued, adding, "After we ran out of poison heals, it was over. They just did hit-and-run the whole time."

"Well that sucks. At least you got that far. Not many get past Blackthorn City's gym. The gym leader there is harsh, from what I hear," consoled Alex. [You bet] Hothead replied. [Water and Dragon types, the lot of them. Fire doesn't do shit against that]

"It's a good thing I had Ice Beam then," said Amor.

The group of pokemon turned as Ben and Mimic ran up, panting a little. "Guys, we need to get to Fallarbor Town really fast," Ben said.

Ben and Mimic had been walking down Petalburg's main street and Memory Lane at the same time, when Ben's PokeNav started buzzing. Ben activated the speaker function and Professor Cozmo's voice came through. "Ben? It's Cozmo. As I'm sure you've noticed, we've had a major astronomical event last night, and I need to talk with you."

"Uhhh, professor, we are talking," Ben replied. "In person, I mean," came the reply. "I had some...interesting findings, that I'm sure you'll want to see. I need you here pronto! Bye".

With that, the professor hung up. "Did he sound a bit worried to you?" asked Mimic. Ben nodded and said, "I thinks that it's best if we go now. First that hunter, now this? Something big's going on, and I think we got sucked into it."

The trip to Fallarbor Town was made very short by paying a local Psychic type trainer to use his Gardevoir to teleport them. Alex's attempt to hit on the graceful Embrace Pokemon was cut abruptly short when it glared at him and said [I'm a MALE you idiot!], to Alex's eternal embarrassment. Mire couldn't stop chuckling at his misfortune, and once Smear translated, neither could Ben and Mimic.

"Oh COME ON! It could have happened to anyone!" exclaimed Alex defensively.

"Yeah, but it happened to YOU!" Smear howled raucously.

After they arrived at the volcanic settlement via teleport, the group hurried over to the professor's house, pausing to retract the pokemon into their balls. Ben pushed open the door and was immediately shocked by what he saw. Cozmo's Diglett was chasing around a small, pink, star-shaped pokemon. The two seemed happy as they played about, knocking over anything and everything. When the duo noticed the trainers, they ran over, the pink pokemon jumping into Mimic's arms. "Cleffa!" it said. The tiny pokemon cooed happily.

"What is this?" Mimic asked as the pokemon squirmed about in his arms while Digdug the Diglett butted into him to get his attention. Cozmo appeared at the entrance to a hallway. "THAT, is what I wanted to show you." He strode over to the duo. "That meteor came out of nowhere. As in, it appeared in the upper atmosphere without bothering to travel through space first. And what's more, when I went to Meteor Falls to investigate a crash, the meteor was gone, and this little guy was there, along with a few others that ran off. I swear I saw this big orange one fly off towards Lavaridge. Anyway, I caught this one in one of my Research Balls and brought it here."

At this, the pokemon jumped into Cozmo's arms. "As you can see, it's very friendly. She spent all morning playing with Digdug here. But the weirdest thing happened this morning. She got ahold of an expanded Unown Pokedex prototype a colleague of mine from Johto sent me, and it suddenly had the data of her species. It said that she's a Cleffa, and it claimed that its evolutionary lines originate from meteor showers, somehow. Well, last night was proof of that, that's for sure".

"We had a little alien encounter ourselves. Come on out, Isaac!" Ben released Isaac from his Moon Ball and the little alien gazed about his new surroundings with curious eyes. Cozmo's eyes got wide and he scooped up the pokemon and held it close to his face. "Remarkable! I guess that we may have had an incursion of several extraterrestrial species in a sort of mass migration!"

Mimic looked puzzled, then said, "Why now, why all at the same time, and how?"

Cozmo answered, "I have no idea. It may just be that something on their home planet may have driven them here, possibly via teleportation. It may even be because they wanted to or could." The scientist looked at the little pokemon in his arms. "Do you know why you came here"? he asked. Isaac shook his head, looking a little puzzled himself. "Well, we may never know. But there's another part to the reason I called you here. If you'll just come with me a minute..."

Cozmo led them to his lab on the second floor. Large banks of computers lined the walls, work tables covered with star maps spilling onto the floor cramped the space, and all in all it was a complete mess. The very center of the room held a holographic projector. Currently, it was showing imagery from last night's spectacle. Cozmo wove his way between the mounds of clutter to the display and entered a command into a keyboard on the side. A map of Hoenn replaced the images, with several glowing circles dotted around the landscape.

"These are the impact sites of all the meteors I was able to track. What I want to know is, are there new species walking among us". Cozmo rummaged around on a table and came up with a Pokedex that looked like it had been severely modified. It had a sleek black casing, with an image of an Unown A form on the front."This is that Unown Dex I told you about. With a few minor tweaks I changed it to register only new species. It already had Cleffa's data on it. If you agreed to this, you would have to travel to all these crash sites and check for new forms of life. Will you please do this for me? For science?"

"For Great Justice!" Mimic exclaimed. Ben hit him on the arm. "What? It's a classic pop culture reference". "I know. This just isn't the time for it. I'll gladly do it, Cozmo. I haven't toured the Hoenn region in a while".

Mimic looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Hey, since we've never taken on the Hoenn League, why not do both at the same time. It breaks up the monotony of traveling, that's for sure. Plus, I wanna get Metoo and Shadoo evolved, and Isaac there could probably do with a level boost".

Ben replied, "That's actually not a bad idea for once. What do you say, Isaac? Wanna battle the best?" "Elgyem! Elgy!" "I'll take that as a yes then. Ok, let's get back to the Psychic. I don't want him leaving without us. It's a long way back to Petalburg by foot."

The trainers left after Cozmo gave them a map of impact sites, returning to the Psychic trainer and his disgruntled Gardevoir. After another teleportation took them back to Petalburg, Ben said, "We'll leave tomorrow. I'll meet you here at eight."

"Will do. See ya later!" With that the two friends departed. Tomorrow was the start of a grand new adventure.

_Elsewhere..._

_The dragon studied its surroundings. A world of light, heat, life. The mountain it stood on held the echo of the lives of those who passed beyond the veil. The two elderly humans who had stood at the top had fled at his arrival. A land filled with a plethora of species, human, pokemon, and...otherwise. It had been called from its home, the void between the worlds, at the behest of of the guardian deity Arceus. It missed the bone numbing cold of space, but the opportunities here...It was better than just sleeping away the millennia. Arceus had explained to him about this world, where humans and pokemon bonded together, to make themselves strong. Perhaps it would allow itself to be caught, trained, loved. Then again, perhaps not. His ancient mind shifted, feeling a strong life force emanating from the west. An opponent worthy of his power? Or maybe just another weakling, a bloom withering in the frost, like those of his old world from long, long ago..._

Kyurem roared to the coming night, revealing his power to a new world. Around him, ice coated the peak of Mt. Pyre, frost dusting the tombs of pokemon long past. He took flight, soaring across the region of Hoenn. Across the sky, Deoxys responded to the challenge by flaring an aurora across the stars, filling the night with an otherworldly aura. Kyurem laughed in his mind, feeling the old thrill of battle returning to him after so long a time. Perhaps he would enjoy this world. Perhaps.

**Not quite as long as the last one. Next chapter is where it all really begins. Please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

*Poke*

*Poke*

"Gaaah!"

Ben fell out of bed as Isaac hummed to himself triumphantly. Ben groaned at looked at his clock. "Up until ten and awake at six. How do you do this?" Isaac shrugged cutely and pointed to the door, then rubbed his stomach. "Listen, if you're just hungry, go and eat a berry or something. You don't have to wake me up every single time". "Elgyem!" "Fine, we can go eat. Just don't wake me from now on".

A half hour later Mire floated down the stairs, as Ben was unsuccessfully trying to get Isaac to eat something besides his elusive Pamtre Berries.

"Look, you have to eat something! We won't be able to take enough Pamtre berries to feed you on the entire trip. C'mon, at least try the french toast!"

Mire hovered over to the two. [He's right Isaac. You do need to try new things every once in awhile] [But I don't waaanna!] Alex took this opportunity to drift through the ceiling. "Either you shut up and eat the damn toast or I will Shadow Ball you from here to next week," he declared before giving a wide yawn. Isaac instantly grabbed a fork and started shoveling the food into his mouth, wide eyed from fear.

[You didn't have to be so nasty!] "It worked, didn't it?"

"Quiet you two. I've gotta pack, then we'll head out. We're heading out for Rustboro today. It's been awhile since we've been on the road, eh Mire?" Mire nodded, then went off to gather some healing berries. Alex said, "I'm gonna go grab my stuff. Pass me one of those Storage Balls will ya?"

Ben tossed over the bulky black and green ball from his pocket. "Just don't fill it up with comic books and tuna again. I keep having wild Skitty try to eat it on me because of the smell." "Whatever. I'll be down in a minute." He floated up through the ceiling. Ben turned to his youngest pokemon. "You eat up. And don't break anything." Isaac still looked nervous about the threat, and continued eating rapidly.

Ten minutes later everyone was assembled at the front door. Alex had managed to cram his DS, Gameboy, and laptop, about three dozen games, a couple of magazines whose covers he hid from Isaac, and a generous amount of candy bars into the Storage Ball. "This was supposed to be survival gear, Alex," Ben reprimanded. "It is survival gear. I can't live without my entertainment," the shiny Gengar replied. He had his dark red bandana wrapped bonsai style around his large head, with a skull-and-crossbones emblazoned on the front. Ben rolled his eyes, then turned to Mire. "Got all the basic Berries?" Mire nodded as best as a floating rock could. A ripple in the air indicated the Psychic dimension shift she used for storage. It made traveling much less of a chore."Alright, let's get going."

This journey through the woods was much less of a hassle. Most had had a run in at one time or another with the Trainer and his pokemon, and had learned that it hurt to attack them.

"Are we there yet?" "Alex, if you ask that even as a joke, I will use silver nails to pin you to a tree." "Yeesh, harsh, dude, harsh."

Mimic was already waiting for them when the group arrived. His pokemon were engaged in a mock battle by the pond, Metoo and Shadoo versus Amor and Minime. The little Rock type was valiantly dodging Fury Swipes from a Zorua-shaped Minime while trying to snap her partner out of an Attract Amor had used early on.

[Sooo...pretty...] the little Zorua practically drooled. [Cut it out! They're killing us here!] Metoo yelled. An Ice Beam glanced off her side as she Low Kicked at Amor. They finally broke apart as Mimic whistled to them. Shadoo was still slavering over Amor, until Alex dumped some cold water on his head. [Hey!] "Mwahahahaha!" [Shut up] "No. It's too much fun."

"Cut it out Alex. He's only a kid. So are we all ready?"

"Yep. Let's move out."

The large group started down the path towards Rustboro. They passed Mr. Briney's house, waving to him and his Pelipper as they went by.

"Alright, the map says the first impact site was on the mountain the Rusturf tunnel passes through. After we get the Stone badge, we can get a look at it. You wanna cream Roxanne first?"

"You bet. The official League posting says she only has Geodudes and a Nosepass. Easy stuff. I'll have Metoo the whole time, with Shadoo and Hothead as backup. Metoo needs the most experience".

"I think I'll have Isaac in second, to test the waters with Alex. Mire could beat them all easily enough. She's level 93 after all."

"That would be a bit overkill. I like it".

"It would be cruel. It would be like if Red himself descended from the heavens riding on Arceus to kill a Rattata...Now that I said that I kinda wanna see it happen".

"Me too. Hey, how about we-"

"Lookout below! Valiant, stop!"

From down the top of a hill by the road, an Onix came barreling down amidst a rock slide, bellowing in terror. Alex grabbed Ben and Mimic and pulled them into Mire's shadow, while Mire levitated the remaining pokemon into the air. Once the rubble passed by them, Alex let out the trainers and the others floated down gently.

Ben and Mimic turned as another figure slithered down the embankment. It was a girl in her late teens. She had aqua blue hair, sharp, angular facial features, and light brown eyes. She was about as tall as Ben, and just as skinny. She was wearing a light green T-shirt with a picture of a Jigglypuff on it, skinny jeans, and white sneakers.

She huffed a bit as she reached the bottom, lightly bruised all over. "Sorry about that. I was training Valiant up there when the ground suddenly shifted. I guess he should hold off on trying out Earthquake."

"That's for sure. The name's Matt, but you can call me Mimic, and my buddy here is Ben."

"Hello," Ben said shyly.

"My name is Elise. Are you guys trainers?"

"Of course. I'm fresh from taking on the Johto League and we both are gonna beat Roxanne."

"I'm just starting out. How about we battle?"

"Alright. I don't go easy though."

The two squared off and Ben stood off to the side, feeling a bit awkward. Girls. Why did it have to be so difficult to talk to them? Nurse Joy was easy enough, but then again you got to see her/them all the time. Ben cursed his shyness and sat down next to Alex, who was munching on a Milky Way bar.

"This'll be a two-on-two fight, single battle, no switching. As the newbie, you get the first move. Let's go!"

"Let's show them Valiant!" "Oniiiiix!"

"Time to kick ass, Hothead!"

The mighty Rock Snake towered over the Painter pokemon.

"Valiant use Rock Tomb!"

"Hothead, Wood Hammer!"

Valiant summoned a rain of boulders to block the movement of the Smeargle, but they were blasted away when Hothead was covered in an energy field that resembled an Exeggutor and slammed into them.

"Hothead, Hydro Cannon!"

"Valiant use-"

Elise was cut off as a wall of water slammed into her Onix, knocking him out instantly.

"Aww man. Sorry Valiant. It's your turn Stronghold!"

A flash of red revealed a Shieldon, looking very perky.

"I'll switch too. Shadoo, if you please?"

Shadoo rapidly disguised himself as a Torchic before taking the field. The little Fossil Pokemon looked a bit intimidated at the sight of a "Fire type".

"Stronghold, use Metal Sound to shake him up!"

The Shieldon gave off a horrible grinding-shrieking noise, causing Shadoo to stagger around a bit and lose his disguise.

"Now Take Down!"

"Shrug it off Shadoo and use Dig!"

The Zorua dove into the ground as the Shield pokemon charged recklessly at him. Stronghold tripped over the hole, then was bashed from below as Shadoo shot from the soil. The double super-effective Ground move sent the hardy Fossil pokemon staggering, but it remained upright.

"Heckuva defense it has there. Use Faint Attack."

"Iron Defense, then Take Down!"

Shadoo vanished, and reappeared to strike at Stronghold, only for the dino to turn its body iron hard. Shadoo's attack was nullified, and the fox was struck heavily by the dino's Take Down.

Shadoo reeled, barely able to keep his feet. Getting hit by a Steel/Rock type hurt. He managed to use a Faint Attack to dodge another Take Down, then lashed out with Pursuit, finally taking out the stubborn Shieldon. Elise looked downcast as she recalled her pokemon.

"Awww, I didn't win a single fight. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this".

"Don't feel too bad. I've just had lots of experience. You'll get better with time."

Elise looked encouraged, then a little nervous. "Ummm, is it okay if I travel with you guys for a bit? I'm still new to this, and I think hanging around with a pro like you might help me learn".

Ben opened his mouth to give a polite refusal, but was cut off by Mimic's, "Of course you can. The more the merrier."

Ben glared at Mimic, pulled him aside and said, "Are you crazy? We're doing this to discover new alien pokemon, not so you can hit on a random girl!"

"I'm not hitting on her. I'm just helping a damsel in distress."

"Damsel in distress? Really? She'll be fine on her own. We can't let a newbie hold us back the entire trip."

"She'll only be here for a little while, until she gets some experience. C'mon, have a heart."

"...Fine, but you get to deal with her. We have to keep moving if we want to get to Rustboro today".

Ben and Mimic turned to their newest companion. "Alright, let's get going. We've still got a ways to go to get to Rustboro."

"Yay! Thank you guys so much!"

Ben sighed. Leave it to Mimic to mess up traveling plans.

A few hours later, signs of habitation dotted the wilderness as Rustboro came closer. The trees began to thin as the bridge across the pond blocking the road came into view.

"Soo...many...Bug Catchers..." moaned Alex. [At least all they had was Wurmple evolutions] Hothead said. [Flame once and done]

Ben took a look at the setting sun and said, "Let's get to the Pokemon Center".

"Why don't we stay at my parent's place at the Devon apartments? It'll be nicer than a Pokecenter room," Elise asked. Ben's face darkened a bit. "I'd rather have nothing to do with that company, thank you very much". He began crossing the bridge with Mire also looking pensive by his side.

"What's his problem?" Elise asked angrily.

"If he wants you to know the reason he hates Devon, he'll tell you. It's his story. But believe me when I say he has a damn good reason," Mimic consoled her.

Elise still looked curious, but went on in silence. The quiet boy was a bit intriguing, and had hinted at a great deal of skill by decimating trainer after trainer today. But he just short of refused to talk to her. This new development had her curiosity raging, but there was little she could do about it. Another thing that bugged her was the Moon Ball hanging from his belt, a pokemon he had kept hidden all day. A Moon Ball indicated the presence of a Nidoran evolution or a Jigglypuff, decent enough pokemon, but he had never once used it. His other pokemon had been close to exhaustion. The mystery just grew deeper and deeper.

The crossing of the bridge was uneventful, except for an old woman who thought they were ameteur trainers and tried to explain how to grow berries to them.

"Listen ma'am, I have a garden full of berries, even Pamtre and Rowap. I know what I'm doing".

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure you're new to this area. I've never seen you around before".

"That's because I never come to Rustboro. I have everything I need at my house".

"Okay then. Why don't you visit Devon while you're here? They have all sorts of interesting things for trainers."

Ben glowered at her then walked away. If only they knew...

The trio arrived at the pokemon center, which was conveniently located at the southern end of the city. The local Nurse Joy healed their pokemon, then gave them each a room key. Ben chose a room on the interior, with no windows. The less he saw of this city the better.

At least tomorrow he could fight the Gym and leave. The sooner the better.

**Double uploading Like A Boss! Not really. Please review, read, tell your friends. **


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